Raising the roof at £43m Factory 2050

THE Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and University of Sheffield are near to seeing their plans for the £43m Factory 2050 reach completion.

The roofing and cladding are almost finished, and mechanical and electrical services for the digital factory are being installed.

Developers Interserve is on schedule to complete fully in November 2015.

It will be home to the AMRC’s Integrated Manufacturing Group, led by Ben Morgan.

The facilities will be used as part of a £1.6m research project that will develop advanced, flexible manufacturing systems which be used by construction group Laing O’Rourke in a new factory manufacturing modular systems for new homes and other buildings.

Factory 2050 is the first building on a new Advanced Manufacturing Campus, which could see the University build up to 1m sq ft of research facilities on the site of the former Sheffield City Airport over the next seven to 10 years.

AMRC Executive Dean Prof Keith Ridgway said: “We want Factory 2050 to be the most advanced factory in the world and part of our long-term development of high value manufacturing – an area where this region has an international lead.

“The development will ensure that the UK’s advanced manufacturing supply chain can tap into the expertise it needs to make the most of increasing requirements to make rapid changes to product design, as a result of ever-changing customer demands.”